EVANSVILLE - The Evansville Police Merit Commission has no plan to move up a scheduled Sept. 26 hearing to review complaints against an Evansville police officer accused of stopping a female driver without cause and neglecting other duties.

Officer David Fehrenbacher, who was suspended by Police Chief Brad Hill in April for 21 days, remains on the force and is now employed in the department's personnel and administration office.

"We have set the hearing (for that date) because that gives ample time for both parties to prepare any information they need to," said Police Merit Commission President Adrian Brooks.

According to internal disciplinary documents obtained by the Courier & Press, Fehrenbacher was suspended for 21 days beginning April 22 for allegedly failing to respond to an alarm run; failing to follow traffic stop procedures; failing to be courteous with a member of the public; and attempting to use his officer status to influence a member of the public to a particular course of action.

According to the documents obtained by the newspaper, about 3 a.m. on March 20, Fehrenbacher allegedly stopped the woman without probable cause, did not report the stop and made "improper and discourteous" remarks.

During that stop, he was dispatched to a burglar alarm, but he allegedly had another officer respond to it while he said he would respond to one farther away. He never reported arriving at the second alarm but cleared it after 20 minutes, the documents said.

The alleged victim later filed a complaint, and after the internal affairs investigation, Hill gave him the maximum punishment he could give: 21 days suspension without pay. Only the merit commission can terminate officers.

Hill said punishments are often served before the three-member merit commission sees the cases, and when they do appear before the board, its members can increase or decrease punishments or agree with the chief's ruling.

The merit commission first saw this case at their May 16 meeting, but it tabled the matter for a later meeting.

"There were some questions that couldn't be answered at that meeting," Brooks said. "That is why it was tabled."

At its next meeting, held Monday, the commission set an "open, evidentiary hearing" for Sept. 26.

Brooks and Hill said because the merit commission hasn't made a final ruling they couldn't answer questions such as whether Fehrenbacher had appealed the suspension or discuss how the department feels about having an officer who was punished for those allegations potentially work there until late September.

"I think people need to understand, whether we like it or not, there is a process in place," Brooks said, "and the policies and procedures for dealing with these matters have to be followed in order for both the officer and the general public to be treated fairly."

"Anytime we deal with complaints against officers we want to make sure that we investigate them fully and try to do the appropriate response to that case," Hill said. "Once this matter is finalized, we can speak more freely about it."